• 2018 Parking & Circulation Presentation
• 2015 Point Defiance Historic Property Management Plan
• 2018 Traffic Impact Analysis
• 2018 Cultural Resources Assessment
• 2015 Point Defiance Historic Property Management Plan
• 2015 Point Defiance Transportation Analysis, Appendix B
• 2015 Point Defiance Existing Hydrology Report, Appendix C
• 2015 Point Defiance Existing Conditions Memo, Appendix D
• 2010 Point Defiance Forest Stewardship Plan, Appendix E
• 2015 Point Defiance CRR Stormwater, Appendix F
• 2004 Point Defiance Erosion and Landslide Evaluation, Appendix G
• 1997 Point Defiance Hydrometrics Geotechnical Report, Appendix H
• 2015 Point Defiance Tree Inventory, Appendix I
• 2015 Point Defiance Project Elements, Appendix K

Phase II of Loop Trail is under construction and work will be visible past the Pagoda, on the north side of Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, in front of the Environmental Learning Center and extending toward Owen Beach. Visitors should expect to hear and see construction and will need to follow posted detours.

Loop Trail will offer 1.6 miles of paved trail separating pedestrians and cyclists from vehicles on the roadway. This project was identified as a community priority when the Point Defiance Master Plan was updated in 2015 and will improve safety, accessibility and connectivity in the park.

The entry to Five Mile Drive from the turn at Waterfront Drive up to Animal Loop Road will be closed to vehicles for one year. A non-paved detour will be provided for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Drivers wanting to access the Lodge, Pagoda, gardens and marina will use the Pearl Street entrance. Those wanting to visit Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Owen Beach, Fort Nisqually and the Outer Loop of Five Mile Drive will need to use the Mildred Street entrance.

Loop Trail will cost about $9.5 million, with the second phase estimated to be about $6 million. The Washington State Office of Recreation and Conservation awarded Parks Tacoma a $3.25 million grant and the 2014 voter-approved bond fund will pay for the rest.

Construction is scheduled to start in May 2025 and is expected to take one year, finishing in spring 2026.

All destinations within the park will remain open during normal hours. The only restricted access is to the section of Five Mile Drive that is signed for detours.

The first phase was completed in 2023 and included a new sidewalk and improvements to Park Avenue west of the Mildred Street entrance roundabout. It also paved the top of Trolley Lane trail leading north from the roundabout to the Japanese Garden, featuring a small plaza at the entry of Wilson Way Bridge and a safer pedestrian road crossing near the garden.

The Rocky Shores Picnic Area will not be available for rental during the one-year construction period because it is in the area where Loop Trail is being built. People who rented the Pagoda for special events will not be affected and have been notified of the construction.

The main picnic shelter will not be reservable this summer, but will function on a first-come first-served basis.

Although design strategies were employed to balance public safety with environmental stewardship, the construction of Loop Trail will require 64 trees to be removed. Parks Tacoma will use the replacement ratio of 2:1, planting another 130 trees of similar species. All downed timber will remain within the park to be used as habitat, nursing logs or landscaping. You can view the trees to be removed in the graphic below.